


Children Will Listen

by sariagray



Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-03-30
Packaged: 2017-11-02 17:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/371645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariagray/pseuds/sariagray
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They will love each other until children stop believing in fairy tales.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Children Will Listen

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by analineblue. Title and quote come from Sondheim's Into the Woods.

_What do you leave to your child when you're dead?  
Only whatever you put in its head  
Things that you're mother and father had said_   
_Which were left to them, too_

Rhys had just finished washing the things from supper. It’d been lasagna, and a salad, as Gwen was on call and it would keep if need be. Pots and pans leaned against the dish drainer to drip-dry and he had a stack of utensils and plates to wipe down. As he flipped the handle of the sink off, he smiled softly to himself. The evening light, golden with sunset, streamed into the kitchen and made the granite countertops sparkle. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was a bit house-proud.

“Mummy,” Anwen’s voice, sleepily muffled, carried from the living area. “Will you tell me a story?”

“All right, love,” Gwen giggled. “Come up here, then.”

Rhys’ smile grew as he tossed a blue dish towel over his shoulder. Maybe he’d take a little while longer with the clearing up than he had planned.

*****

  
“Once upon a time,” Gwen stated seriously, her voice full of twinkling mysticism, “there was a prince.”

“Oh! What was his name?”

Anwen’s bright brown eyes were large and as fixated as though her mother was about to reveal the secrets of the universe. Gwen had to suppress a chuckle.

“His name was Prince Ianto. He was a very kind prince and well-liked by everyone in his palace. He was betrothed to the beautiful Princess Lisa, and they loved each other very much.”

Anwen squirmed eagerly in Gwen’s lap.

“But one day, evil knights came to the palace. They captured Princess Lisa and cast a spell over her so that she would become evil, like them.”

Gasping, she hid her eyes behind her tiny, pudgy hands. Gwen reassured her with a soft hush and a tight hug.

“Well,” Gwen continued, “Prince Ianto rescued Princess Lisa from the fallen palace and brought her back here, to an old castle. He knew that the king of this particular castle didn’t like his people very much; they had been fighting for a while. But Prince Ianto knew that this was the only place he could take his love and fix her.

“Prince Ianto had tried many times to convince the king to let him in, but he was unsuccessful. Finally, clever Prince Ianto had an idea.”

Pausing, Gwen watched her daughter’s eyes widen to huge orbs. She was practically trembling with excitement and her soft brown hair had fallen into her face. Gwen tucked a lock of it behind her tiny ear and smiled.

“’Your majesty,’” Gwen continued, lowering her voice and causing Anwen to squeal in delight. “’I know where there’s a dragon. I’ll help you catch her.’”

“A dragon,” Anwen breathed in awe, clutching at Gwen’s arm. “A _real_ dragon?”

“Yes, pet, a real dragon. So the king agreed to go with Prince Ianto to hunt the dragon. They found her in a dark, scary cave. The king was so excited when they saw her, and the dragon was very frightened of the humans. Still, with a magical treat that Prince Ianto had brought, they were able to catch the dragon. They named her Myfanwy and brought her back to the castle.”

“And did the king let Prince Ianto stay?”

“He did just that. But Prince Ianto still had to sneak Princess Lisa into the castle, without anyone knowing.”

“But Mummy, why didn’t he just tell the king about her? The king could help!”

“Ah, love, but the king had sworn that if he ever came across anyone like those evil knights, he’d have them killed immediately.”

“Oh no!”

Gwen frowned seriously. “Oh yes. And, although Prince Ianto didn’t know it at the time, Princess Lisa had already changed into an evil knight. She had only been pretending to be Princess Lisa to get Prince Ianto to do what she wanted.”

Anwen gasped, her lip trembling like it did when she was close to tears.

“One day, the evil knight that was using Princess Lisa’s body escaped and tried to kill everyone in the castle, including Prince Ianto. He didn’t want to kill his betrothed, because he loved her so much. He didn’t know that she wasn’t Princess Lisa anymore.”

“Wa-was the king mad at him?”

Gwen tightened her grip on around her daughter and nodded.

“He was very mad, sweetheart. But then the evil knight picked up Prince Ianto and threw him across the castle. He was badly injured. The king saw this and rushed to the prince’s side. Do you know how the king healed Prince Ianto?”

Anwen peered skeptically at Gwen through her bangs. “With a kiss?”

“Yes! Do you know this story already, young lady?”

Anwen giggled at Gwen’s exaggerated look of suspicion and, closing her mouth into a tight line, shook her head back and forth frantically.

“Well, the king saved Prince Ianto and then defeated the evil knight. Prince Ianto was still sad, because he missed Princess Lisa. And then the king sent him into exile for a month.”

“But why?” Anwen whined. “Prince Ianto didn’t do anything wrong! He didn’t know!”

“The rules of the kingdom said that someone who brought a threat to the castle was to be executed or have all of their memories taken away by a magic spell. But the king liked Ianto very much and didn’t want to do that to him.”

Anwen pondered this a moment and then nodded resolutely. “Did Prince Ianto come back?”

“He did. At first, the other people in the castle were very mean to him. They were mad at him for what he did, but the king kept trying to smooth things over with everyone, and soon they all got along again.”

“Was the king married?”

A plate clattered in the kitchen and Gwen raised an eyebrow in its direction, smothering a grin.

“No, the king wasn’t married. He felt that his job and his subjects were too important to him. Plus, he was waiting for a special magician to come and cure him.”

“Cure him?” Anwen frowned. “Was he sick?”

“When the king was younger, he met a beautiful apprentice who was studying with this special magician. The king went traveling with them all over the world, but one day, they were attacked by thieves. The king sacrificed his life to save everyone and Rose, the apprentice, was very sad. So she cast a magical spell that brought the king back to life. She was so good at magic, though, that she made it so he could never die.”

“But…isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, love. He couldn’t die, he lived forever, but all of the people he loved eventually died.”

“Oh.”

The softness of Anwen’s voice, the seriousness, made Gwen’s heart ache in a way it hadn’t for years and she snuggled her daughter closer.

“One day, the magician reappeared and the king ran off to follow him. He didn’t tell the people in the castle where he was going, though. He just vanished. They were all very sad, and very worried, especially Prince Ianto.”

“He wasn’t mad at the king?”

“Not anymore. They became close, spending all of their time together. They were falling in love.”

“So why did the king leave?” Anwen shrieked, the sound tearing at Gwen’s gunshot-frazzled eardrums.

“Because he wanted to have a normal life. But the king returned one day when his people needed him and he saved the day.”

“Yay! Was he better?”

Gwen shook her head sadly. “The magician wasn’t strong enough to fix him. But he came back, anyway, because he missed his subjects very much.”

“And Prince Ianto?”

Swallowing hard, Gwen nodded. This was supposed to get _easier_ with time, not more painful.

“Yes, especially Prince Ianto. When he came back, he asked the prince to attend a ball with him.”

Yelping with delight, Anwen clapped her hands. “Did he say yes? Did he?”

“He did. And they went to the ball together and had a wonderful time. They danced all night and kissed under the stars.” _Before trampling over a nest of hungry Weevils, who derailed their plans for the rest of the night, the poor things._

“Did they get married finally?”

“Ah – er, no. No, they didn’t. They were in love and that was enough for them.”

Anwen frowned. “There were no weddings?”

“There was one wedding between one of the king’s subjects and a nobleman. It…was a lovely event, attended by everyone in the castle and all of their friends. They were all so happy to be together and they danced and ate wonderful food.”

“Was it _true_ love, though? The people who got married?” Anwen looked amusingly disbelieving.

Gwen dropped her voice to a serious whisper. “Yes, sweetheart. It was the very truest of true love. They still love each other to this day, very much.”

“Oh. I guess it’s okay then. So what happened to the king and Prince Ianto?”

“They had many adventures together. They fought evil side-by-side with their friends, and they were always there for each other. They didn’t leave each other’s side. But then, one day –”

Gwen choked back a lump in her throat.

“One day, a great evil descended upon the kingdom and tried to take all of the children. Prince Ianto and the king went to meet with the messengers of the evil force, but the messengers put a magic spell on them that would kill them.”

“But – but the king can’t die!” Anwen protested frantically.

“I know, pet, but Prince Ianto could and –”

“But he could save him with a kiss, couldn’t he? Isn’t that what he did before? Didn’t he save Prince Ianto?”

“He tried. He tried, but it didn’t work because he was under the spell, too. Prince Ianto was brave, though. He knew he was dying and he tried to tell the king that it wasn’t his fault. He told the king that he loved him, and the king told Prince Ianto that he’d remember him for a thousand years.

“The king kissed Prince Ianto one last time and held him while he died. And then the king, so furious with the evil force for taking away his love, defeated them. He chased those who ran away all throughout the land until every last one of them was gone.”

Anwen was snuffling into Gwen’s blouse, smearing it with snot and tears, and Gwen tried to clamp down on her watery eyes.

“Mu-mummy?” Anwen hiccoughed. “What was the king’s name?”

“Jack,” Gwen whispered. “King Jack. The best king who ever lived.”  


*****

  
Rhys tucked Anwen into bed and brushed his lips over her check.

“Sleep tight, sweet girl,” he murmured as he clicked off her lamp and shut her door.

He proceeded to the living area. Gwen was still seated on the couch, her legs tucked up protectively underneath her. She was staring, unseeing, at the kitchen window. It was dark now, nothing but black against the warm glow of electric lighting from their home. He settled himself beside her and threw an arm around her shoulders.

“That was a bit much, maybe,” he prompted teasingly. “But then, she _is_ your daughter.”

Gwen snorted a laugh. “Have you _read_ Grimm’s fairy tales? They’re – well, they’re _grim_. In _Cinderella_ , crows peck out the stepsisters’ eyeballs. Crows. Eugh! This was sugarplums in comparison.”

“It was a lovely story,” Rhys conceded and pulled her closer.

She rested her head on his chest and nodded.

“Look,” she sighed. “I want her to grow up knowing that there’s so much love in the world, so much beauty in unexpected places. But I also want her to know that not everything is happy, that there’s pain and danger, that you have to – to seize the moment – to be brave and str– and strong.”

Rhys watched Gwen collect herself, her chest heaving through silent sobs that wrenched his gut more than any wailing ever could. It had been years, true, but this pain, the pain of losing so many people that she loved, would never leave her. He’d gotten used to sharing his home with ghosts.

“Did they really love each other, then?”

Gwen nodded, clutching helplessly at his shirt, and Rhys smiled softly.

“Well,” he whispered gently as he pressed a kiss into her hair, “that’s what matters, isn’t it? _That’s_ what our little girl will remember.”

Raising her head, Gwen offered him a watery smile. “Rhys Williams, I love you with the very truest of true love.”

“The very truest of true love,” Rhys agreed solemnly before he kissed her.

And they lived happily ever after.


End file.
